DAY 11 - DAY 5 CRYSTAL SERENITY

MONTE CARLO - DAY 1 - VISIT TO NICE

These are the menus from the Crystal Dining Room from last evening.

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Before dinner we went to the Crystal Cove for a drink.  Keith tried the April in Positano which has Limoncello, Campari, Gordons Gin, and Mediterranean Tonic Water.  After all we are sailing the Mediterranean.  Anne Marie had sparkling wine.  When one of the bartenders arrived he had Keith try a new drink that he has created.  It was delicious.  Full disclosure....Keith had 3/4's of the first drink and 1/4 of the second one so he stayed within his limit of one drink.  

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We had dinner at Prego.  We had a wonderful time.  We enjoyed the cuisine, service and the ambience of the restaurant.  

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We each had Caesar Salads, Anne Marie had the Veal, Keith had the additional entree of Sole and Fruit for dessert.  

Afterwards we attended a Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle Party.  Spoke with several people including Bob and his lovely wife Jeanne.

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We missed the evening show given the time we left the party.  We slept well and began this morning as we normally do.  

We arrived to Monte Carlo this morning where we will overnight giving us two full days.  Our first visit to Monte Carlo was in 1997.  Since then we have visited several times most recently in 2015 when we attended the Grand Prix.  On prior visits we never made it over to Nice.  We booked a private tour for 2015 which would have included two other couples but with the Grand Prix the tour provider ended up cancelling the tour due to expected traffic congestion.  This time we were committed to visiting Nice.  While it is easily reachable by train we decided to go with a private tour.

After taking the tender between the ship and the tender pier we were met by the tour guide, Jerome.  Jerome has been conducting tours for ten years and lives in Nice.  He was born in Paris.  He speaks english fluently.  He love sports like we do.

Our tour included driving on the Low Corniche Road which hugs along the stunning coast line on the way to Nice. We ended up in the old town of Nice which was built in the 13th century.  We did visit the flower market which is a popular place to see.  

We also visited the medieval village of Eze made up of narrow landes and stone buildings.  Eze clings to the cliff over 1,200 feet above the sea.  We walked up to the top of the hill and enjoyed beautiful views of the sea.  We had a terrific lunch and sat outside.  We had wine and a salad entree which was amazing.  The buffalo mozzarella cheese was out of this world.

Our tour continued with a drive up to the village of La Turbie where we enjoyed beautiful views of the Principality of Monaco.

As part of the Monaco Yacht show we saw French Patrol flying overhead as we were making our way back to Monaco.  We pulled over for a short time to view it.

When we took the tender from the ship to the tender landing after we got into the tender the sea swells were strong.  We had a bit of drama on our return.  When we were tied to Serenity some people got off ahead of us and as Anne Marie was getting ready to go off the ship tender pitched side to side like nothing we have ever seen.  Keith grabbed Anne Marie by the arm to pull her and get himself back over to the seats and at one point that look impossible.  One of the passengers who had gotten back into his seat was able to give support to Anne Marie.  Back in our seats we waited a few minutes until it was safe to get back up.  

The day and the tour were wonderful.  Because of the strong winds the other day we had clear skies with full sun.  All we can say to our tour guide is Bravo and this area of the world is truly stunning.  

Anne Marie & Keith